How St. Louis Became the Hometown Vladimir Tarasenko Envisioned From the Start5 èþíÿ 2019 ãîäà. Sport Illustrated. By Alex PrewittHere
is a boy with boundless energy. No older than nine, he lives in the
riverside Russian city of Novosibirsk, a major hub along the
Trans-Siberian railway. Because his parents are divorced, and because
his father is away playing professional hockey, the boy shares an
apartment with his paternal grandparents. It is a small place, two
bedrooms. It will not do much to contain him.

One day, for example, he is barreling around the apartment. Full
sprint, no regard. Emerging from a hallway, as the boy will remember
many years later, he comes to a crossroads. Turn left and enter the
kitchen. Veer right for the living room. His mind spins fast. His legs
churn faster.

Here is a father raising two boys, each with boundless energy. The
oldest is stepson Mark, a goalie for a local youth hockey program. The
youngest, Aleksandr, as Tarasenko puts it, “is like hurricane.” In this
regard, the Blues winger sees a spitting image of his younger self.
“Lot of power, never gets tired, just play-play-play,” Tarasenko says.
“The difference is, I was living with a 50-year-old grandpa and he is
living with 27-year-old NHL player.”

Along with his wife Yana, the Tarasenko family resides in a quiet St.
Louis suburb. Naturally, his $7.5 million annual salary affords more
than a small apartment. There is a mini floor hockey rink in the
basement, where Mark faces his dad’s world-famous shot. A swimming
pool, a playground and a sprawling backyard outside. They also
installed a basketball hoop, around the same time that the Blues were
beginning the Stanley Cup Final. Anything to keep the kids busy.

“It makes me really happy for them, because I didn’t have a chance to
grow up like this,” Tarasenko says. “I try to create some opportunities
for them to get older, not only mentally but physically too, so they
can spend their energy in the right way.”

Clearly Tarasenko hasn’t lost a step from his younger days, either. If
anything, the burly left-shot sniper has gotten stronger as this spring
progressed. A personal eight-game point streak was snapped when Boston
blew out St. Louis in Game 3 last week, but Tarasenko quickly responded
with a critical first-period tally in Game 4, punching a juicy rebound
from the low slot to break a 1-1 tie and helping the Blues knot the
series at two apiece. It was his 11th goal of these playoffs, two shy
of Brett Hull’s franchise record, and 33rd overall in the postseason
since 2014, barely trailing countryman Alex Ovechkin (34) for the NHL
lead.

On the ice, Tarasenko is a superstar offensive talent, perhaps the only
legitimate such solo artist that the Blues can claim, capable of
altering entire nights with a quick wrist flick. But he is also an
unapologetic homebody. “When I come back there, just calm and relaxed
right away,” he says. “I don’t need to go anywhere.” Indeed, while
rehabbing from reconstructive shoulder surgery last summer, Tarasenko
opted against training with fellow NHL players in St. Louis and mostly
just worked out alongside Yana at their house instead.

There is no question that winger Patrick Maroon is the real local hero
story: raised in nearby Oakville, two victories away from bringing the
first-ever Stanley Cup to his childhood team. But Tarasenko counts as
an adopted son of the city. He did not know any English when he arrived
during the ‘12-13 lockout, a highly touted first-round draft pick two
years prior; now he cracks jokes better than most native speakers. He
has developed a friendship with Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina, among
other local athletes. He helps at practice for the St. Louis Rockets
youth hockey club, shooting on Mark and the other goalies. He and Yana
pay regular visits to Promise Christian Academy, a school for special
needs children.

Their third child is on the way. Obviously, the baby will be born in St. Louis.

“We have apartments in my hometown, but it don’t feel like my hometown
anymore,” Tarasenko said last season. “All my life is here.”

Brock Wilson was stunned. A former minor-league
defenseman-turned-strength coach (and the son of the late Blues
blueliner Rik Wilson), he was watching Tarasenko shoot after one of
their training sessions two summers ago. “Pucks normally don’t make a
noise,” Wilson says. “But when that puck leaves his stick and zips
through the air, it whistles. It’s like a bullet out of a gun.”

There is no distinct origin story that Tarasenko can recall, the first
time that he began honing his deadly wrister. “But I remember my dad
always talked to me about it, tried to make me shoot faster,” he says.
Back then, Andrei Tarasenko was a high-scoring winger in the Russian
Superleague. “I’m like, ‘What do you want from me? Why I need to do
this?’” Vladimir says now. “And during that time I start to recognize
it helps me.”

The result is readily apparent. “Vladi beats you more with accuracy and
speed, more than some guys beat with deception,” Blues goalie Jake
Allen says. “That’s the best way I can describe it. He’s got big
forearms and he can really fire the puck in tight, awkward spaces.” The
strength is no secret to anyone who sees the 225-pound Tarasenko in the
gym. “He’s just a machine,” defenseman Joel Edmundson says. “On the
bike, bench press, overall he’s a monster.” But the truly terrifying
feature is how little Tarasenko pulls the puck back before releasing.
“Can you tell me any other person in the NHL who shoots like him?”
Wilson says. “There’s no real windup. He could stand there without
stickhandling and snap his wrists and that’s basically his shot.”

Perhaps more impressive, though, is how Tarasenko has grown as a
200-foot player. “He’s more well-rounded now than he’s ever been taking
care of his own end,” captain Alex Pietrangelo says. “Plays a simple
game, but he’s pretty effective and he commands so much space over the
ice. I think his passing’s underrated, his defensive game is
underrated. A lot of things, when you’re a big-time goal-scorer, that a
lot of people don’t see.”

Not that Tarasenko is sacrificing in the offensive zone. Consider his
signature strike from the playoffs so far, captured by this Deadspin
headline: “Vladimir Tarasenko Nearly Ripped Himself In Half Scoring
This Goal.” Late in the first period of Game 2, after fishing a loose
puck from the Blues end and zipping past Brad Marchand to start an
odd-man rush, Tarasenko was initially denied on a rebound attempt by
goalie Tuukka Rask. But, contorting his hips while tracking the puck,
he somehow managed to lunge forward and backhand it into the net while
falling down.

“Obviously didn’t surprise us,” Edmundson says. “He’s doing whatever it
takes. He’s been here long enough and they haven’t won. He feels like
this is the year to do it.” Here the Blues defenseman references the
celebration following Carl Gunnarsson’s overtime winner that night.
Specifically how the front of Tarasenko’s jersey was flecked with
blood. “He’s laying it on the line,” Edmundson says. “When we see our
top player doing that, every other guy follows.”

It is the kind of inspired leadership that can make a guy run through a wall.